Kukla's Korner Hockey

“I was scared a little bit. I felt like Jacques Plante 50 years ago,” said Pavelec, a 22-year-old from the Czech Republic who’s getting a shot with oft-injured Kari Lehtonen on the shelf again. Kovalev took the shot on a wraparound after Pavelec had had his mask knocked off in a scrum late in the second period. “I can tell you now it was not fun. A little scary, but it wasn’t a hard shot. I don’t think (Kovalev) could see (he had lost his mask). It wasn’t his fault. There was no blood.”

“I softened my hands,” said Kovalev, who saw the netminder was bare-faced.